Defending district champ BG has high expectations

March 22, 2014

The high school volleyball season kicked off Friday night, and the five area teams are expecting to make some noise on the scholastic courts.

No team has more expectations on it then Bishop Guilfoyle.

The Marauders return every single starter and all of their varsity subs from a team that won the school's first ever District 6 championship.

BG, which finished 15-5, advanced to the first round of the state playoffs after winning a play-in game.

"This team is focused on big goals, but realizes they have to be accomplished one at a time," Bishop Guilfoyle coach Bob Kasun said. "Our practices have been very competitive. We have raised the bar of expectations for our practices, our regular season and playoffs."

BG will turn to a group of four seniors that will be in the starting lineup for the fourth year.

The Marauders have taken steps to make this a memorable season by ramping up their tournament schedule as they will travel to defending Class AAA state champion North Allegheny and to returning Class AA state champ Northeastern.

"If we are going to reach the full potential of this team, we need to face the toughest competition in the regular season matches and in the tournaments," Bob Kasun said. "We have upgraded our tournament schedule to play against the best teams in the state."

Northern Cambria returns one starter in senior setter Zach Lee that won the Mid-State volleyball league last year.

"Zach will have to be the leader of the team this season," Hogan said. "He has been doing a great job with this role to date, and I look forward to him having a great year."

The Altoona Mountain Lions, though they appear to have unlimited potential on paper, will have their work cut out of for them.

"We have shifted kids around to different positions to try to take advantage of the athleticism we have," Altoona coach John Saboe said.

Seven Mountain Lion starters return from the 8-5 squad of a year ago as they will look to guide their team into district title contention.

"We ran a lot of guys in and out last year. A number of our young kids were able to get some experience," Saboe said. "We have a great core group of young men who are doing an excellent job right now."

Central and Huntingdon didn't achieve much success last year, and will try to combine the experience they do have returning with a group of players that are looking to make a difference in their first go-rounds with their respective teams.

Strengths: "This is a team with an excellent work ethic and a good understanding of hustle to every ball. We have placed an emphasis on being a defensive team that can turn any ball into a point scoring opportunity."

Concerns: "This team does not have that big game experience and senior depth. We have a number of talented underclassmen that will get some very valuable experience as the season progresses that will hopefully pay big dividends at the end of the season."

Overall outlook: "We have the potential on paper to be a very good team. This group of young men has proven to be very dedicated to the sport and more importantly, to the team. As always, they have set their goals high, and continue to work in the gym everyday to achieve the goals of being a district champion and state champion."

Strengths: "We have lots of athletic players. With a large group of guys competing for playing time, we hope to quickly develop our players into volleyball players."

Concerns: "Inexperience. Only one player on the team has more than one year of experience playing competitive volleyball. We are counting on some players to step up and contribute very quickly."

Overall outlook: "Until we gain some experience, I expect us to struggle but once the new players become comfortable in our system, we should be all right. I'm hoping that this season will be the start of a resurgence of boys volleyball in the Cove."

Strengths: "Our athleticism and competitiveness are two of our strong points. As they become better volleyball players, they will be an exciting group of athletes."

Concerns: "Keeping players healthy and committed to the game. Avoiding injuries is always a concern, and with this team, it's no exception. Spring is always a challenging time of year to coach, but if this team stays focused throughout the ups and downs of a regular season they could be very good in late spring."

Overall outlook: "We are positive. We have a bunch of inexperience but yet athletic, exciting players. I look forward to them figuring out the game of volleyball as the season progresses."